Who holds purse strings in your house?

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MANY of us have worries about paying the bills, keeping on top of the mortgage and the many other challenges that come with keeping a household afloat.

Now West Australians can tell our State’s political and thought leaders about what keeps us awake at night and what keeps us going through the day.

Seven West Media WA is launching the biggest ever survey of our aspirations, anxieties and attitudes to money.

We want to work out who’s the boss in household finance, or if there are multiple bosses. Maybe you follow a disciplined budget and save regularly, or maybe you live day-to-day and never worry about savings or debt.

Respected research group CoreData is running the survey, which can be completed anonymously. It takes 12-15 minutes to complete, depending on how much detail you go into in your responses.

CoreData WA director Kristen Turnbull said the survey was trying to find out who holds the purse strings in WA homes.

“It’s about understanding our attitudes to money, whether it is retirement planning, saving for a holiday, paying household bills,” she said.

“We want to know how decisions are made. To what extent are they made collectively or individually.”

And here’s the million-dollar (or possibly the $100 or $500) question: what amount do you feel is “too much” to spend without telling your partner how you plan to spend it?

The survey comes after a tough five years where a post-boom lull, weak housing prices and low wage growth have combined to make life tougher for many WA households.

The questions will seek to understand the sense of financial control we now feel after some tough times, as well as any vulnerability we might feel to mortgage-rate rises after two years of record low official interest rates.

Maybe you’re satisfied with your ability to put aside money to pay off the mortgage and insure the car but don’t have the resources to properly fund your life insurance or superannuation.

And here’s the million-dollar (or possibly the $100 or $500) question: what amount do you feel is ‘too much’ to spend without telling your partner how you plan to spend it?

Ms Turnbull said she wanted to get an understanding about attitudes to the big gap between the retirement savings of women and men.

“How vulnerable are we to relying on our partner for our financial future,” she said. “How prepared are people feeling for their retirement.”